All told on Wednesday, N.C. State drained 7-of-13 from the 3-point line in the second half and pinned a pivotal NCAA Tournament skin on its resume with its 74-70 win over the Orange in the Carrier Dome.

"The game was decided when we didn't get to the 3-point shooters," SU coach Jim Boeheim said. "We gave them really good looks from the three. They're a good shooting team and they made 'em."

N.C. State ranks 13 out of 15 ACC teams in 3-point shooting in league-only games. The Wolfpack were making 34 percent of their threes against league opponents before encountering Syracuse and its 2-3 zone. They connected on 44 percent of their threes Wednesday night.

State shot 30 percent from three in the first half, but by the midway point of the second half, the Wolfpack discovered their shooting touch.

Two Oshae Brissett free throws provided the Orange with a 47-41 advantage before Braxton Beverly drained a three to cut that lead in half.

Two Tyus Battle free throws upped the Orange advantage to 54-48 before Sam Hunt drained a corner three to chop that lead in half.

A Frank Howard floater in the lane tied the game at 54, then Hunt sank another corner three and Allerik Freeman drained a wing three.

At that point, the Wolfpack were 4-of-9 from three in the second half.

They would get better.

"My teammates found me," said Hunt, who went 4-for-4 from the 3-point line in the second half. "They did a great job of penetrating and getting into the gaps. They helped me make the shots. They found me when I needed to be found."

For Hunt, the recipe for success seemed fairly simple. SU left him open. He made a few shots. Then he believed he could make a few more.

"It felt pretty good," Hunt said. "Once I'd seen one go in, I felt like I could make a couple more. It felt good. Once you see one go in, you kinda catch a rhythm."

N.C. State kept at it. They overloaded a side, got the ball to the middle and found an open teammate. Or they enticed SU's forward to commit on the wing and swung the ball to an open man in the corner.

Either way, it was lethal. Syracuse could not figure out a way to discourage State's shooting. Hunt's proficiency from the corner was especially damaging.

"A lot of teams do that," SU forward Oshae Brissett said. "They try to raise the forward and then dump it down to the corner."

In those situations, SU tries to cover the corner with its center, who flies from the middle of the zone to reach the shooters. With Paschal Chukwu and his 7-foot-2 wingspan sidelined Wednesday by back trouble, Marek Dolezaj played some center. He was forced, at times, with trying to make his way around 6-foot-11, 280-pound widebody Omer Yurtseven to get to that corner.

"It was my fault," Dolezaj said. "I didn't go to the corner. The big guy dragged me in. I had no option to go there. He was in front of me. But you must move. You must move in the defense."

For Syracuse, Wednesday marked the second straight game in which it surrendered an abundance of second-half threes. Wake Forest shot an incredulous 9-of-13 in the second half against the Orange on Sunday. In its last two games, Syracuse has surrendered a combined 16-of-26 from the 3-point line after halftime. That's 62 percent.

Syracuse, a team that prevents opponents from scoring inside the arc this year, ranks 98th nationally in defending the 3-point line. And teams habitually take more threes against SU.

"We didn't defend the 3-point line," Boeheim said, "two games in a row."